1) Field of the Invention
This invention relates to a novel bacterium belonging to Bacillus subtilis and also to its usage.
2) Description of Related Art
In a wide range of agricultural businesses, various microbial activities take place with some sort of relevance to the agricultural businesses. This relevance may be advantageous or disadvantageous to the agriculture.
For example, fungi are microorganisms generally called "molds" and can be classified roughly into Phycomycetes, Ascomycetes, Basidiomycetes and imperfect fungi. They include many useful fungi, led by yeast.
However, they also include those present in soil and acting as pathogenic bacteria against crops, like molds, so that it is important for agricultural businesses to inhibit their growth. Further, compost is useful as a fertilizer for crops, Livestock excrement or the like is contained in compost, resulting in the potential problem that the compost may become an offensive odor source by growth of a fungus or a hotbed for the proliferation of a pathogenic fungus. Further, an infectious crop disease induced by a fungus such as a mold has communicability and may totally destroy the crop. There is accordingly an outstanding desire for the development of means for effective inhibition of such infectious diseases.
As a method for inhibiting the growth of a fungus, it has conventionally been known to use various antibacterial agents or bacteriostatic agents. As an antibacterial or bacteriostatic ingredient is decomposed, the above method is accompanied by the drawback that it requires periodic re-application of the antibacterial or bacteriostatic agent. It is also accompanied by the drawback that the antibacterial or bacteriostatic agent may also inhibit activities of other useful microorganisms or may become ineffective due to the occurrence of resistant bacteria.
There is hence an long standing demand for the development of a fungus inhibitor which remains effective over a long time and is free from the troublesome occurrence of resistant bacteria.
Reflecting changes in the living environment and consciousness, on the other hand, the level of demand for the prevention of offensive odor and unpleasant odor is increasing. For example, even to livestock farmers and the like who have been in business for many years, neighboring residents often make a demand for the prevention or reduction of offensive odor or unpleasant odor given off from livestock excrement or the like.
Conventional known deodorizing methods which can be used for the prevention of offensive odor include masking methods, chemical deodorizing methods, physical deodorizing methods, and biological deodorizing methods. In the livestock industry where livestock excrement as an offensive odor source occurs continuously and in large quantity, the effectiveness of a chemical or physical deodorizing method is limited, to say nothing of any masking method. A biological deodorizing method is therefore capturing the interest of researchers, because it causes livestock excrement as an offensive odor source to promptly ferment so that occurrence of offensive odor can be prevented. It is, however, the current situation that no fermentation promoting method has yet been established for the prevention of occurrence of offensive odor from livestock excrement. There are similar problems with respect to old-fashioned toilets of the long drop type and garbage from house kitchens. These problems have also not been solved. Further, lignin which is one of principal components of lignified plant bodies such as wood, bamboo and straw and is a network, high molecular compound accompanied by the problem that its decomposition can be insignificant, thus remaining as waste.
Accordingly, it has been strongly desired to develop a method for promptly fermenting odor sources such as livestock excrement, human excrement and kitchen garbage and even lignin to effectively prevent the occurrent of offensive odor.
Further, one of the greatest concerns of livestock farmers is how to raise healthy livestock so that excellent meat or eggs can be obtained. In reality, however, livestock may not be raised satisfactorily in many instances because they may not take sufficient feed or may not digest the feed sufficiently or may catch disease. For example, if easily fermentable feed is fed in a large quantity at once to a ruminant mammal such as a cow or ox, rumen acidosis takes place temporarily, thereby decreasing its appetite. This trouble then induces an abnormal gastric juice pH of the rumen, damage to the reticulorumen, production of unusual metabolic products such as amines, extraordinary fermentation heat, etc., so that normal digestion and absorption are inhibited. Further, bacteria other than flora may grow extraordinarily and penetrate into blood, thereby causing digestive tract diseases, hepatopathy, motor organ diseases, reproductive difficulties, heat stroke, mastitis, dermatitis, or the like in some instances.
To raise healthy livestock for the provision of livestock products in greater quantity, there has been a strong demand for the development of technology that can promote digestion of feed by livestock and can hence fatten the livestock.